Villa of the Weird
Villa of the Weird is a 1997 comedy horror film directed by Paul Ward. The film is presented in the vein of an anthology, with individual characters going through different experiences before transitioning to a different person, giving the illusion of a continuous narrative. The comedy comes in the reactions given by the characters and the ironic placement of various upbeat songs. The film initially received mixed reviews, but has gone on to receive a cult following. Plot Silla (E.G. Marshall) and Alice Sayamak (Adrienne Barbeau) are a snobbish pair who run a country club in a villa adjacent to an Indian reservation led by Chet Ripplelake (Frank Salsedo.) In spite of the club barely making it to the borderline of the reservation, Chet wants desperately to get their part of the land. He had tried buying it directly and informing them of new locations, but the Sayamaks are content with where they are. During a member drive, an obnoxious tycoon name Doyle (Jerry Stiller) goes to play a game of golf, distracting Silla who's also playing. The latter hits a ball toward Doyle and knocks him out, leading to a brawl. Doyle spitefully claims he refuses to join the club, but makes a hidden threat of returning. Come the next night, Doyle stages a hostile takeover with several goons and puts the Sayamaks at gunpoint. Doyle accidentally shoots Silla after the latter taunts him over making good on a threat; Alice is shot after she's caught making a break for the door. News of their death spreads to Chet's reservation. Chet discovers that he and his tribe legally own the area the club is on. Overhearing Doyle's intent to convert the area into a condominium lot, Chet decides to confront Doyle. Doyle establishes his own discontent toward Native Americans, believing them to be freeloaders and offends Chet by claiming he's just trying to dissuade him from converting the land to keep it to himself. Doyle breaks into the reservation and confiscates the paperwork confirming Chet's ownership of the land. Construction is slated and the entire reservation is kicked out. A few years later, the condominiums are built and house a number of boorish clientele. A warning is given through an apparition in the mirror to Doyle, but due to him being drunk he doesn't take it seriously. A frat boy (Don Harvey) teases a group of reserved students, hurling food at them in a prank before running off. He comes across a girl, Madison, and flirts with her, but she rebuffs him; the rebuff is in the form of a warning, something the boy doesn't pick up on. He goes to spy on her through the window as she changes clothes. She catches him but continues, and he's unaware that more girls are cutting the latter down below. He falls and breaks his spine and the girls take him in. The boy awakens in the dungeon where the girls proceed to assault him in the form of the pranks he pulled, concluding with them ripping his penis off. It goes to a pair of brothers (Dick and Deke, Paul Satterfield and Daniel Beer respecitvely) who hear about the discovery of an abandoned camaro. They go to investigate and we learn that Deke clashes heavily with his brother over how to have fun. He is driven mad when Dick reveals that he brought Deke over to smoke drugs. Deke resists and Dick winds up doing it all. In the haze of a trip, Dick begins screaming and shaking Deke, seemingly calling out for an unknown force to take him. Dick comes to his sense and Deke viciously berates Dick over the whole thing. Dick curses Deke out as he leaves and Dick is caught by a zombie (Robert Englund in an uncredited appearance); the late owner of the camaro and the drug stash and the aforementioned force. The zombie proceeds to kill Dick and goes to Deke, where it's revealed he paid the zombie to kill his brother to free himself from his obnoxious behavior. The zombie offers Deke a puff on a bone (literally Dick's finger bone) It then goes to a criminal couple, Byron and Cale (Bradley Gregg and Kelly Wolf.) While on the run from a deranged police officer (David Orange), they take refuge in the house of a blind man, Walter (Lenny Von Dohlen.) Byron and Cale exploit Walter's blindness by having sex before his eyes, eating his food and stealing his possessions. Walter catches Byron after he grazes the former's cane and proceeds to beat him with it. In the fight, Byron knocks off Walter's glasses and discovers gaping holes where cockroaches proceed to emerge out of them. The shock gives Byron a fatal heart attack (driven by his acarophobia.) Cale attempts to escape but is shot in the head by the police officer. Both round up the bodies and we get the implication that they will eat the departed. It goes to Denzel (Tommy Chong), a professor who secretly smokes cannabis. He is introduced to a much stronger substance and as he smokes it, a plant-like growth forms on him. He attempts to avoid smoking more of it but is unable to go cold turkey. He decides to smoke his original pot, but in the haze of a trip, smokes the stronger stuff and becomes completely encased in the growth. His superior (John Vernon), calls to question his whereabout, jokingly claiming that he's tripping. Bugs emerge out of the plant-like cocoon that was once Denzel. Martha and Harold (Gaylen Ross and Clint Howard) visit the condominium in the hopes of getting a room there. An old man (Barnard Hughes) offers to help them get the room, but he doesn't reveal his method to do so. As time goes on, residents slowly disappear. The couple have reason to suspect the old man has killed them, but are surprised to find everyone's alive and well in the dining room. The accusations were heard by the higher ups and the old man is banned. In a fit, he angrily attacks the couple before succumbing to a stroke, with a bug monster emerging from his corpse. Harold knocks out the creature and struggles to find a place to get rid of it safely, settling on a concert venue. He returns to the condo and Martha tells him she wants to leave. Harold agrees on the condition that it be after they eat. Both get pies and as Harold cuts into his, he hears a scream and finds guts on the inside. Numerous bug monsters emerge from everyone else's pies and the couple promptly flee. Aware of the deaths, everyone flees the area, just as Doyle books a deal with two investors. Unknown to him, his wife discovers that her dog had been eaten by the bugs and wants desperately to leave. This turns the investors away and Doyle begins angrily stabbing at them. The wife flees and becomes witness to a man running a chainsaw through a gagged man. As she drives off she contends with Doyle who begs her to stay and comes across more gruesome murders. Doyle continues chasing her as the chaos continues, only to black out and awaken in a dungeon. As he attempts to climb out as various bugs fill the room, he is heckled by Chet. When he gets to the top, he is taken by an unknown force and his fate is left unknown. The film concludes with an animation of the deceased as skeletons performing in front of a crowd of Indians and bugs, playing a rendition of Wish by Nine Inch Nails, fashioned after the video for Touch of Grey. As the skeletons look up, they see they're controlled by strings held by the Sayamaks. Production The original cut was given an NC-17 rating, featuring more gruesome gore and sexual imagery than what was seen in the theatrical release. The NC-17 version was given a limited release in local theaters throughout the western United States with the opening logos cut out and replaced with a single credit for "Sayamak Inc.", referring to the surname of the main protagonist. Cast * E.G. Marshall: Sillas Sayamak * Adrienne Barbeau: Alice * Frank Salsedo: Chet * Jerry Stiller: Doyle * Don Harvey: Frat boy * Paul Satterfield: Dick * Daniel Beer: Deke * Bradley Gregg: Bryon * Kelly Wolf: Cale * David Orange: Officer * Lenny Von Dohlen: Walter * Gaylen Ross: Martha * Tom Noonan: Harold * Barnard Hughes: Old man * Tommy Chong: Denzel * John Vernon: Dean Enhemer * Robert Englund: Zombie hippie (uncredited) Soundtrack The soundtrack was released by Mercury Records. # Loco (Coal Chamber) # Fall Down (Toad the Wet Sprocket) # So. Central Rain (R.E.M.) # Novocaine for the Soul (Eels) # I Don't Owe You Anything (The Smiths) # Rhinosaur (Soundgarden) # Dissident (Pearl Jam) # Replica (Fear Factory) #A Change Would Do You Good (Sheryl Crow) #Salvation (The Cranberries) #Head Like a Hole (Nine Inch Nails) #More Human Than Human (White Zombie) #6 Underground (Sneaker Pimps) #Wish (Nine Inch Nails)